These percentages can vary wildly depending on the buy-in amount of the tournament, but they are far from universal. One casino may only take out 15 percent of the prize pool, while another may scour 20.

Naturally, players should gravitate toward the tournament that puts more money back into the players' pockets.

Tournament guarantees: Brick and mortar casinos are also getting into the business of guaranteed prize pools — one of the biggest selling points to online poker tournaments back in the day.

It's common for these pools to have injected money that is beyond the deposited funds by the players in the field. This is called an “overlay,” and it's always a good thing because it can significantly increase the return of investment.

News of consistent overlays has a way of getting around.

Tipping: It's a highly controversial subject. The majority of dealer income comes in the form of tips, and it's a practice players should understand comes with the territory once they take a seat in a cash game.

That being said, many tournaments have add-ons and other gimmicks that infuse players with additional chips for a price. That money is then distributed to tournament staff in the form of tips.

So if you do well enough to cash in a tournament and decide to tip out, you are doing it doubly and being a kind soul. You have the right to take the money and run without regret.

Gimmicks: I had a conversation with a player that goes by the nickname “Discount Mike.” He told me his outrageous system for accumulating added profit into his $5/$10 no-limit poker game that I first laughed off as absurd but later recognized as genius.

Whenever he enters a cash game, he makes it well known to the table that at any point he wins a hand that doesn't go to a showdown, his cards are viewable for a $5 chip.

Pots in a game of that magnitude are nothing to sneeze at and can range anywhere from $200 all the way up to bankroll-busting hands with as much as $5,000 or more in the pot. The $5 is nothing more than an afterthought.

Since the deal comes with poker's required “show one, show all” provision, where everybody at the table has access to the information, players often fall into an unwritten social contract of sorts where they each take turns tossing him the chip.

Mike said, over the course of a long session, it was normal to walk away with $30 or more in free money. Easy to see how he got the nickname.